Maya structures are scattered across the jungle in this LiDAR image taken over northern Guatemala. Picture: National Geographic.

IT’s been there some 1200 years. But it’s been hidden from sight by the dense green foliage of Guatemala’s tropical rainforests.It’s an ancient Mayan civilisation capable of having housed more than 100,000 people.

But it took modern laser technology (known as LiDAR — Light Detection and Ranging) and a survey of more than 2100 square kilometres of northern Guatemala’s Maya Biosphere Reserve to expose its existence.

The lasers can peer through the overhanging foliage, sensing what lies beneath.

Douglas Preston wrote Lost City of the Monkey God, published in 2017 concerning discovery of a lost city using LIDAR technology. He accompanied the archaeologists into the jungle forests describing what it was like "to be there"

I promise you that you will not sleep easily for a night or two after reading his accounting of doing a dance with a 20 foot long fer de lance, in complete darkness. Totally blood curdling.

I still shudder.

nothing wrong with being open minded as long as your brains don't fall out.

Catsumi wrote:Douglas Preston wrote Lost City of the Monkey God, published in 2017 concerning discovery of a lost city using LIDAR technology. He accompanied the archaeologists into the jungle forests describing what it was like "to be there"

I promise you that you will not sleep easily for a night or two after reading his accounting of doing a dance with a 20 foot long fer de lance, in complete darkness. Totally blood curdling.

I still shudder.

I'd shudder too.

All these people trying to figure out what happened to the Mayan civilization, I have to wonder if they ever considered that the snakes ate them all?

"Never try to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and it annoys the pig." - Robert A. Heinlein

A few years back a city was discovered off the west coast of India that dates to around 9500 bp. and is about 35m deep.

Satellite radar has found what could be a entire unknown civilization under the sands of the Sahara, dating to at least pre glacial melt.

In the English channel, a boat building village was discovered under about 10m of water. Probably flooded from glacial lake Agassiz letting loose 8300bp.

Here in Canada on the west coast, a island that had oral history stories was studied and a 14000 bp fishing village was uncovered-making it the oldest site so far in N America. Some think the date could be pushed back to 22,000bp.

In the mid 90's I went to Courtenay and at low tide I discovered a preserved forest in the bay across from Comox. I originally thought it was flooded from sea level rise,but after a rethink, I figure it was from that area sinking 2-3 meters from the last mega quake in the year 1700.

We, like other sentient life forms, are here because it's the only way the universe can perceive itself.